Owner seeks agricultural zoning to keep 6.6 acres as a small organic farm; council probes access and future uses

Property owner Rola Egan asked the county to rezone 6.57 acres at 109 Glenmont Lane from R12 to AG so she and her family can operate a small organic farm and ‘‘keep it as a farm.''

Egan told the hearing she has registered the property as ‘‘70 Palms Farm,’’ has consulted Clemson Extension and the USDA, and does not plan an on-site farm stand or livestock. “I really want to keep it as a farm,” she said, describing goals to farm without chemicals and to open the canopy to allow planting while leaving stumps to decompose into soil.

Council members and staff questioned how farm activities would work with existing site constraints: the parcel includes floodplain and two small creeks, a flag-pole-style driveway crossing and potentially a drain that may need to be moved. Staff said farming is a permitted activity in parts of the floodplain and noted that some minor tree cutting for farming may be allowed but that grading, stump removal and commercializing the site could trigger other permitting requirements.

Staff also told the hearing there are other procedural paths if the intent is personal, hobby-scale farming rather than commercial agriculture. The board of zoning appeals can grant special exceptions or conditions (for example, prohibiting on-site sales) that would permit limited farming activities while preserving residential protections; staff cited past cases where similar conditions were imposed.

Several council members expressed support for the applicant’s stated aim to keep the land undeveloped while warning that rezoning to agricultural could allow future buyers to pursue more intensive farm uses, including livestock or commercial greenhouses, subject to floodplain and setback limits. The hearing record will move to the planning commission and Planning & Development Committee for further review; no council vote occurred at the meeting.